Summer Conversational Series 2018: Gabrielle Donnelly “Peppery Old Ladies: Aunt March’s Literary Line from Betsey Trotwood to Aunt Petunia”

The concluding talk of the series was by Gabrielle Donnelly who gave a most informative and entertaining presentation on literary aunts, beginning with Aunt March from Little Women. Not often talked about, Gabrielle was inspired to examine Aunt March after Angela Lansbury’s iconic portrayal in the Little Women Masterpiece series. Aunt March Gabrielle maintained that …

Summer Conversational Series 2018: Cathlin Davis “Learning to Be Herself: Alcott’s Lessons in Peer Pressure”

Note: This is a long post of over 3000 words. It’s also a core topic of Little Women’s relevancy for teenagers especially when it comes to conformity versus non-conformity, and peer pressure. It’s well worth the read for those of us who wish to pass down Little Women to our daughters and sons, nieces and …

Summer Conversational Series 2018: Anne Boyd Rioux: “Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters”

The last lecture of the day was given by Anne Boyd Rioux on her new book, Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters. First encounter with Little Women Anne did not read Little Women as a child; it had not given to her by her mother or grandmother. …

Important blogs to know about regarding the Alcotts

There are two wonderful sites that you need to see: Little Women 150 One is by noted Alcott scholars Anne Phillips and Gregory Eiselein called Little Women 150: Louisa May Alcott's Little Women: A 150th Anniversary Celebration. The blog will feature weekly posts covering each chapter, written by Phillips and Eiselein along with other contributors …

“A thousand kisses–I love you with my whole soul”: Relations between women in the 19th century, as reflected in Little Women

This comment from Diana regarding a previous post prompted a discussion on whether or not Louisa May Alcott was gay: “What is your opinion of the evidence that she may have had some suppressed passion, such as crushes, on girls? Remember she said in an interview that she had been in love with so many …

A dream book launch–Louisa May Alcott: Illuminated by The Message makes its debut at The Barrow Bookstore in Concord

For an author obsessed with all things Alcott, does it get any better than this? Launching a book about the most famous Alcott, Louisa, in The Barrow, a bookstore housed in a building owned by descendants of Anna Alcott Pratt in the heart of Concord, Massachusetts ... it's a dream come true. A book store …

Don’t miss the special exhibit of rare artifacts at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House

On Thursday I toured Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House. I was anxious to see the artifacts pictured in The Annotated Little Women, edited by John Matteson and took a vacation day to see them as November can get swallowed up in holiday preparations. If you live anywhere near Concord and can get to this exhibit, …

Fun, surprises and inspiration at John Matteson’s book signing of The Annotated Little Women

This past Sunday, November 8, a group of Alcott enthusiasts had the distinct pleasure of attending a book signing and reading with John Matteson, the editor of The Annotated Little Women at The Concord Bookstore. Surprise! As he was about to speak, we were greeted with a surprise guest, "Louisa" (aka Jan Turnquist) herself! She …

May Alcott gets her due! Review of Little Woman in Blue written by Jeannine Atkins

I am so pleased to present this extensive review by Gabrielle Donnelly, author of The Little Women Letters: The first thing to remember when you start to read Jeannine Atkins’ marvelous novel, Little Woman Blue (She Writes Press, September 15), is to forget Amy March. Amy, the spoiled youngest of the March family of Little …

New book in the works on Little Women

Anne Boyd Rioux, author and a member of the Louisa May Alcott Society, has just been given a grant to write her new book called Reading Little Women.: The History of an American Classic. As you will see from her post, she was quoted in a recent article in the Washington Post about making scholarly …